Direction of Moral Education Teacher To Enrich Character Education

Jurnal Ilmiah Peuradeun

International Multidisciplinary Journal

JIP-International Multidisciplinary Journal {119

Jurnal Ilmiah Peuradeun – International Multidisciplinary Journal

ISSN: 2338-8617

Jurnal Ilmiah Peuradeun

International Multidisciplinary Journal


DIRECTION OF MORAL EDUCATION TEACHER TO ENRICH CHARACTER EDUCATION

Mohd Zailani Mohd Yusoff1

Aswati Hamzah2

Abstract

This paper discusses moral education which should begin by focussing on what exactly is meant by the term “moral human being” in Character Education. This is because whatever approach is used has to be based on the exact and clear understanding of the moral human being himself. A moral human being should posses the components categorised as concept, that is, the rules and principles which are deemed necessary to be used in actions and feelings or emotions which support the belief that a concept or action should be carried out. Apart from that, a moral human being should have the moral knowledge of the surroundings, know how to interact and act according to the decisions made. Character education will enable one to be a moral human being who should know the good, desire the good and do good.

مستخلص ىو املقصود ابلضبط ما من خالل الرتكيز على جيب أن تبدأ اليت الرتبية األخالقية تناقش ىذه الورقة

بد أن يكون يستخدم ىجـن ألنو مهما ىذا ىو .التعليم األحرف يف "أخالقي إنسان "مصطلح من متتلك جيب أن أخالقي إنسان. نفسو كوهنا أخالقي إلنسان وواضح دقيق على أساس قائما

الستخدامها يف تعترب ضرورية القواعد واملبادئ اليت مفهوم، أي تصنيفها على أهنا مكوانت

____________

1 Ed.D and Lecturer at School of Education and Modern Languages, Universiti Utara Malaysia 2 Ph. D and Lecturer at School of Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia

ISSN: 2338-8617

Vol. 3, No. 1, January 2015

JIP-International Multidisciplinary Journal 120}

. ينبغي االضطالع هبا العمل مفهوم أو االعتقاد أبن اليت تدعم العواطف أو واملشاعر اإلجراءات األخالقية للمحيط، ومعرفة كيفية املعرفة أخالقيا إنساان بغض النظر عن ذلك، ينبغي أن يكون

الذين أخالقيا إنساان واحد ليكون متكن الطابع التعليم سوف. للقرارات لتفاعل والتصرف وفقا .اخلري وفعل اخلري يف رغبة اخلري، جيب أن يعرفوا

Keywords: Moral, Education, Teacher, Character Education

A. Introduction

Character education is an umbrella term for all explicit and

implicit educational activities that help young people develop positive

personal strengths called virtues. Character education is more than just

a subject. It has a place in the culture and functions of families,

classrooms, schools and other institutions. Character education is

about helping students grasp what is ethically important in situations

and how to act for the right reasons, so that they become more

autonomous and reflective.

Character education is one of the essential aspects in an

individual from birth to death. It involves training human sensitivity

to attitudes and behaviour, decisions and approaches to all types of

knowledge which are dominated by ethical and spiritual values. He

will be trained and disciplined mentally in the search for knowledge

not merely to fulfill intellectual desire or material gains, but also to

expand him self as a rational and righteous being contributing to

physical prosperity, morality and spirituality of a family, society and

humanity.

B. The Aim of Moral Education

Morality functions as the guideline in resolving conflicts among

individuals and maximises the benefits of individuals living in the same

community (Rest, 1986). Morality is centralised on the Kohlberg traditional

concept of entailing fairness and respect towards the rights of others,

emphasising justice and sympathy. Besides aiming to protect human

Direction of Moral Education Teacher To Enrich Character Education

Mohd. Zailani Mohd Yusoff & Aswati Hamzah


dignity, rules enable humans to save energy and time to think of their

behaviour. Nonetheless, a moral human being accepts values and society

norms that are universally accepted as moral, good and true.

Hence, an individual with morals has to be aware and

understand the needs of regulations in society (Abdul Rahman Aroff,

1986). A person with morals has to have noble characteristics that are

praiseworthy morally. A person with a noble personality is one with a

stable aptitude and personality in responding to a situation morally,

manifested with kindness, honesty, responsibility and respect for

others (Lickona, 1991a). More importantly, it contains ways of how a

moral person should abide by the rules of the society and react

effectively without conforming or complying with the rules blindly.

Hence, the preparation of such concepts of societal regulations

and noble personality only are not sufficient to enable an individual to

face moral dilemmas or complicated conflict values. An individual

with morals should have principles and be autonomous in making

decisions which are rational and truthful without any coercion or blind

obedience to an authority. As such, ethics based on principles of justice

and concerns are required.

Principles of justice are necessary to act in autonomous and

rational ways in any situation in order to avoid selfishness and greed,

and be able to control extreme behaviour in states of extreme anger.

Moreover, humans cannot communicate with others if they do not

understand one another. We will not be able to tolerate others who

have different opinions, unless we have mutual understanding,

congeniality and other methods to allow a win-win situation. Realising

the fact that humans cannot live alone without the involvement of

others, concern has become one of the important moral principles to

avoid selfishness. It is considered as the principal value in generating

other moral values especially the altruistic value (Abdul Rahman

Aroff, 1999).

Therefore, ethics based on principles of justice and awareness

has to be inculcated in an individual with morals besides taking into

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consideration the situation faced. In order to complete the concept of

ethics in a moral human being, it becomes a necessity to touch on the

dimension or the aspect of an individual’s tendency to behave morally.

There are at least three ethical dimensions: moral reasoning, moral

feelings and moral behaviour (Abdul Rahman Aroff,1999). An

individual with morals should perform everything based on proper

reasons. An individual who acts on a routine basis or fear or acts

without thinking of the circumstances is not considered as a person

with moral maturity or is doing things immorally. For instance, if we

are training our children to avoid being racists without knowing the

reasons, we are actually nurturing them immorally.

Only an individual who is doing the right action with convincing

reasons is considered as a moral person. The concept of moral reasoning

is necessary especially in this multiracial country in which the society has

different significance and conformity of their core values. Reasoning is

necessary to create justice in actions. In sum, moral reasoning will involve

rationale and independence of thoughts, and consideration is the ability

to consider and make mature moral decisions freely without being

influenced by coercion or blind obedience.

Moral behaviour, on the other hand, is related to an

individual’s action and behaviour as a result of a decision made with

full responsibility by independent and rational reasoning. An

individual who does something which is considered inappropriate,

unfair and immoral is considered as a person with low morals or one

who is “knowledgeable but is not practising the knowledge”. This

phenomenon happens to an educated individual who is able to

rationalise, yet is still doing illegal or immoral activities. An individual

with morals will be altruistic, considerate, sympathetic, and generous

as well as possess the traits of being concerned. Apart from that, the

individual should be ashamed or feel guilty of doing something

immoral. Nonetheless, a moral individual should not act emotionally

as it will lead to irrational actions. Meanwhile, an individual with very

low moral feelings is seen as being less human or impersonal.




C. Concept of Moral Education

There are major principles recognised as the guideline in

engendering human holistically, physically, intellectually, emotionally,

spiritually and socially as aspired by the National Education

Philosophy: “towards further development of individual potential

holistically in tandem with producing a harmonious human being

balanced intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically based

on faith and obedience to God”. The principles are:

a) Being responsible towards self, family and others.

b) Upholding religious belief.

c) Caring towards the environment.

d) Maintaining peace and harmony in life.

e) Being patriotic.

f) Respecting human rights.

g) Applying principles of democracy in life.

Diagram 1: Application of Values in Moral Appreciation

Diagram 1 shows that the absorption of values in learning

across the curriculum is encouraged in strengthening students’

behaviour regardless of their level of education. There are four

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elements in the absorption of values across the curriculum – religious

values, moral values, cultural values and aesthetic values. The

implementation of religious values across the curriculum is made up

of ethics, humanity and religion. This is done so that religious belief

could be upheld and appreciated in accordance with the atmosphere

and complexity of the human life in carrying out daily activities.

For instance, being thrifty is encouraged in Islam. Hence,

spending wisely can be applied and practised by students in their

daily lives, similar to the practice in workshops.

The application of religious values in the learning sessions will

enhance the students’ personal character. The next element is the

absorption of moral values in the curriculum which comprise of

spiritual and communal ways of living. One of the examples is

cooperating with the locals to clean public areas; thus inculcating the

neighbourhood spirit indirectly. This could be implemented in the

learning sessions by having group activities in associations, clubs and

uniformed units. Meanwhile, cultural values comprise ways of life,

social and tradition. These values embrace the variety of values

possessed bya group of people in a community such as the culture of

respecting the elders, and courtesy.

Finally, other values that should be implemented across the

curriculum are the values of arts, beauty and feelings. It includes

pleasure, satisfaction and excitement in human life especially in the

arts and culture. Arts can be seen from the production of architecture,

drawings, visual arts and others.

D. Direction/ Future of Moral Education in Character Education

Character education is the process of an individual or society

internalising culture leading to civilisation. Character education is not

only a means of knowledge transfer, but broader in which it

encompasses cultural and nurture of values. A child should get an

education that touches on the humanity dimension. The humanity

dimension includes at least three most basic points:




(1) Affective which is reflected in the quality of faith, piety and

moral behaviour inclusive of the noble character, dominant

personality, and ethical competency;

(2) Cognitive which is reflected in the thinking capacity, and

intellect to seek, expand and master knowledge and

technology;

(3) Psychomotor which is reflected in the ability to expand skills,

practise efficiency and kinetic competency.

Character education in the moral education programme

focuses on the Comprehensive Human Model which comprises of

three interrelated moral dimensions. (Diagram 2: Comprehensive

Human Model). The positive character should consist of these three

moral dimension s– moral thoughts, moral emotions and moral action.

An effective moral education should assist the students to understand

the moral values, accept and show commitment, and practise them in

their daily lives. These three dimensions are necessary to enable a

student to reach moral maturity level. The best moral development

theory is one that considers all the three dimensions. The development

of the three moral dimensions will nurture and stimulate conscience

causing an individual to feel happy doing the right thing and feel

guilty doing something immoral. Moral education should not neglect

the aspect of conscience that functions to integrate the three moral

dimensions.

Meanwhile Walker et al. (2000) describes the moral domain as

consisting of moral emotion, moral behaviour, moral thought,

commitment and noble behaviour. The discussion above indicates that

certain qualities, character or skills for a moral individual should be

identified in designing and planning the moral education process as a

whole. In conjunction with this, Abdul Rahman Aroff (1999) proposed

the concept of ethics and the moral human being which is considered

suitable especially in the context of a multiracial society in Malaysia.

Ethics is conceptualised from three perspectives: content, design and

dimension. Morality or ethics should have content that consists of the

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regulations of the society and noble characteristics. Each group in a

society has its own regulations in order to ensure people could live

and function well with its environment.

Thus, morality cannot expunge itself from regulations, norms,

traditions or customs in society. Due to this, as explained by John

Wilson (1973), societal regulations and noble character should be

understood by each individual as moral thoughts do not evolve in

vacuum. Human social life cannot go on without regulations as they

are yardsticks to evaluate any social activity (Wright, 1971).

The concept of moral education will be introduced and enhanced

through “inter-disciplinary” minor courses to balance the understanding of

the comprehensive education concept in Malaysia. This is to prove that

humans are the successors in the physical, social, emotional and spiritual

aspects which embrace human needs as a whole.

The aspects that are stressed in the Moral Education

programme are based on three main aims:

1. Knowledge

a. Recognise values that can contribute towards the development

of moral values such as sincerity, respect, personal

responsibility, perseverance and moral courage.

b. Explain family traditions and be familiar with qualities which

unite a family such as love, attention, being respectful, and

commitment as well as preserving the family name.

c. Explain the principles of cooperation which can make each

occupation in the community a success.

d. Realise the country’s accomplishment and identify the

appropriate behaviour of a responsible citizen.

2. Skills

a. Apply moral reasoning skills and creative thinking in making

decisions, solving problems and moral dilemma, defining

problems, evaluating suitable choices and deciding on an

action.




b. Share and understand the feelings of others.

c. Cooperate and unite in managing an action.

d. Utilise talents and abilities to do social work.

3. Attitude

a. Ability to control moral strength and personal responsibility.

b. Show courage and diligence in facing difficulties and be

prepared to act.

c. Respect the feelings of others on ethnicity, race and culture.

d. Show willingness to serve for the wellbeing of the community

and society.

e. Exhibit a sense of belonging and love towards Malaysia.

Apart from that, character development also focuses on the soft

skills concept. The definition should always refer to the concept of

integrated education and values explained above. In detail, the soft skills

concept has to be developed with the integration of seven (7) components –

ethics and moral, leadership, communication, entrepreneurship, thinking

skills, continuous learning and information management, and teamwork.

Character development is accomplished by means of the global thinking

approach; however it acts nationally, that is, in accordance with Malaysia’s

identity. With this strategy it is hoped that Malaysia produces world

scholars or intellectuals.

E. Moral Education Teachers’ Challenges in Enhancing Character

Education

Educators entrusted to teach moral education should have the

basic knowledge and skills especially with regard to inner needs and

approaches. This is because moral education is complex and has

caused a lot of confusion in character education. Teaching moral

education is not the sole responsibility of the Moral Education teacher

in the school, but it also requires the cooperation of everyone including

parents and the school especially in promoting a moral environment.

According to Puka (2002), if an educator does not know what morality

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is he is not qualified to teach (Abdul Rahman Aroff, 1986). Hence, the

preparation of a moral education teacher should be taken seriously

because in reality, moral education is not what it is assumed to be. The

moral concept held by educators will influence the aim, content and

especially the methods of teaching moral education. For example, an

educator who understands moral education as absolute compliance to

the rules will act as an authoritarian and the moral education

programme will be indoctrinated; the implication of which will hinder

the process of mature moral development.

Besides, the Malaysian Education Development plan of 2013-2025 has

been adjusted with the conceptual curriculum framework focusing on

nurturing the Comprehensive Human Model in all three moral dimensions –

moral thinking, moral emotion and moral behaviour. In terms of moral

psychology, the development of character in the three moral dimensions -

thinking, emotion and behaviour - are the essentials in the perception

framework. Moral philosophy offers us the causes and the definition of

assumptions and ideas of good deeds, and should be practised by individuals

in their relationship with others. However, moral psychology expands our

understanding of behaviour and the development of human capacity

(cognitively and affectively) in making moral judgements and acting as a

responsible moral agent (Chang Lee Hoon, 2001).

The second dimension emphasises the emotional aspect; moral

feelings. Moral feelings refer to the “right feelings” and it involves

rationalisation in the situation encountered (Ministry of Education

Malaysia, 2001). Students should be able to express their feelings -

sympathy, empathy, disappointment, anger and so on and so forth - while

explaining their views on moral issues. Moral behaviour, on the other

hand, is the third dimension in the student learning concept framework.

Students who have been given the opportunity to review an issue or moral

situation should be given the chance to also propose solutions to resolve

the matter. It is in this third dimension that students are able to show their

commitment physically as a manifestation of the result of their thoughts

and moral feelings.




Quality teachers are positive teachers with clear directions, able to

adapt to various situations, are creative, smart, motivated, passionate in

teaching, competent and skilful in the subject, empathetic, and moral and so on

and so forth. A teacher is considered to be a responsible moral agent in

assisting students with values of love and close social relationships. This is

because there are some students who grow up in a tumultuous and confused

society especially in the aspect of moral development. If a teacher acts

negatively, it will affect the students’ moral development (Ab. Halim Tamuri,

2007). Nonetheless, the roles and responsibilities of character education do not

rely solely on teachers, but families and society also play significant roles in

nurturing the children’s character informally. The diagram below shows the

roles and responsibilities of character education.

Diagram 2: Roles and Responsibilities in Character Education

Apart from that, one of the government’s vital agenda is to develop a

world- class education system without leaving out the aspect of character

education as a medium in character development. This system focuses on

comprehensive human capital development, is progressive, and has high

moral and ethics. Holistic human development requires physical, emotional,

spiritual and intellectual balance and the ability to become trained and

competitive nationally and internationally in line with the 2020Vision.

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F. Conclusion

Morality is behaviour determined by ethics. Behaviour derived

from good or bad ethics is labelled as morality. Morality is divided

into two: good; which includes all behaviour which is recognised as

ethically correct, and bad; which is recognised as ethically bad.

Morality is related to societal regulations which exist beyond

individual control. Dorothy Emmet (1979) stated that humans are

dependent on good behaviour and morality, traditions, norms and

religion in assisting in the evaluation of one’s behaviour. Behaviour in

Islam is closely related to a Muslim’s faith.

Besides, the concept of moral education intends to nurture a

quality human being who is able to perform his duties and

responsibilities as a moral person. The process of moral education

plays a significant role in educating human beings taking into account

the fact that human beings were created in terms of mind, body and

spirit. The concept will have a great impact on human life and make

human beings the inheritors of earth.

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Direction of Moral Education Teacher To Enrich Character Education

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